2006: A short recap of the year’s events

The year opened Jan. 3 with a temblor triggered by the guilty plea of the appropriately black-clad Jack Abramoff.

The plea capped more than a year of investigations into the high-priced escapades of the former super lobbyist and his associates — two of whom pleaded guilty in 2005.

Though the plea was not a surprise, Abramoff’s admission of defrauding clients and corrupting officials touched off a sudden flurry of congressional promises to take a stern stand on gifts from lobbyists.

Those promises gradually melted away in the fervor of the 2006 election. Overshadowed by poll results saying corruption was not the main issue engaging voters, and fueled by a desire for campaign help from what was by then the largest number of lobbyists ever assembled in Washington, congress decided that all politics really was local and nothing further need be done.

Meanwhile, momentum from the Abramoff scandal continued to build and likely contributed to the April resignation of House Leader and Republican fundraising powerhouse Tom DeLay of Texas.

It also brought down Ohio Republican Robert W. Ney ,who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making false statements in October.

And while Republican leaders had guessed right — and the voters really were focusing on their state and local candidates — many of those local candidates were being hammered by separate, often lobbying-related scandals that kept the issue at the top of the news.

An analysis by The Examiner in July showed an ongoing or recent local scandal in 10 of the 13 key toss-up states.

In the end, the corruption issue was not the leading reason the Republican hold on Congress was washed away, but it may have tipped the balance.

And this disaster film isn’t over. Most of those who pleaded guilty did so through deals where they pledged cooperation. It’s a sure bet there will be more aftershocks in 2007.

Dee Ann Divis is the business editor of The Washington Examiner. Contact her at [email protected]